Reagan Again Urges Abstinence To Fight AIDS

WASHINGTON--Schools must teach students to refrain from sexual
intercourse before marriage if the battle against acquired immune
deficiency syndrome is to be won, President Reagan told a group of
physicians last week.

"Let's be honest with ourselves. AIDS information cannot be what
some call 'value neutral,''' the President said in an April 1 speech to
the College of Physicians in Philadelphia. "After all, when it comes to
preventing AIDS, don't medicine and morality teach the same lessons?''
A transcript of his remarks was made available here.

When asked by a reporter before the speech whether he thought the
best preventive measure against AIDS was "to just say no,'' Mr. Reagan
reportedly said, "That's a pretty good answer.''

Second Speech in 2 Weeks

The President's speech marked the second time in as many weeks that
he had addressed the topic of values in education before a major
gathering. In an address late last month in Missouri, he told a group
of educators and policymakers that "standards of right and wrong are
essential to any life that is lived well and should be part of
education.'' (See Education Week, April 1, 1987.)

His remarks to the physicians' group also came amid a continuing
debate among his advisers over the proper scope of AIDS
instruction.

The Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, has repeatedly called for sex
education to begin as early as kindergarten and has advocated that such
courses instruct students on the use of condoms as a means of reducing
the risk of transmitting the AIDS virus.

Secretary of Education William J. Bennett, meanwhile, has emphasized
the need for students to practice sexual restraint in his speeches on
the topic.

According to press reports, the President told reporters before his
speech that his own views on AIDS education largely parallel those of
Mr. Bennett. But, he added, he does not oppose Dr. Koop's position.

"I don't quarrel with [the Surgeon General's stance], but I think
that abstinence has been lacking in much of education,'' Mr. Reagan
said.

"One of the things that's been wrong with too much of our education
is that no kind of values of right and wrong are being taught in the
education process,'' he continued. "And I think that young people
expect to hear from adults ideas of what is right or wrong.''

'Emergency-Room Operation'

In his speech, the President likened the fight against AIDS to "an
emergency-room operation--we've thrown everything we have into
it.''

"But all the vaccines and medications in the world won't change one
basic truth--that prevention is better than cure, and that's
particularly true of AIDS, for which right now there is no cure,'' he
added.

"This is where education comes in,'' he continued. "The federal role
must be to give educators accurate information about the disease. Now
how that information is used must be up to schools and parents, not
government.''

On another public-health issue, the President urged the physicians
to "teach your patients about the health risk of drugs. You can show
them--particularly your young patients--why it's important to them,
their families, and their communities to 'just say no' to drugs.''

In his speech, the President also addressed the role of schools in
strengthening the nation's economic position. His remarks on the
subject were virtually the same as those in his speech in Missouri last
month.

"[P]reparing America for the 21st century ... includes finding ways
to make the best use of our science and technology,'' he said. "It
includes building a fair, open, and growing world economy, which will
be the source of many of the jobs of our future. It includes making
sure that American education is the best in the world, investing in our
human and intellectual capital, so our children are ready for those
jobs.''

The President said that keeping the lid on taxes and eliminating
"needless regulations'' would improve "the climate for entrepreneurship
and growth here at home, so that the only limits on what our children
can achieve are the limits of their dreams.''

"We've made great progress in both those areas,'' he said. "But the
job won't be done until we get control of federal spending, so that tax
rates won't go up again. And that's why it's time for Congress to cut
the federal budget and leave the family budget alone.''--T.M.

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